Liking the Latest Evernote for Mac Update

Evernote’s Mac app had an update last week, to Version 3.0.6. The update included some nice enhancements for tables and checklists as well as the ability to view multiple notes in full screen mode.

Another major element of the update is what Evernote calls ‘ a beautiful redesign of our note panel’. I’m a huge fan of Evernote. It’s an app I use every day on my MacBook Pro. But … beautiful is just not a word I have ever associated with it, or certainly with its writing interface. I have to say though, the redesign has made the note panel feel much nicer and cleaner.

Here’s more detail, straight from the Evernote Blog, on the redesign of the note panel:

The goals of the redesign were clarity and simplification. You’ll notice that the new layout is much more space-efficient. For example, we moved information about the note into the “i” button. We also made note sharing options much more prominent with the new, big share arrow.

In addition to saving space, the new layout is also easier to understand and use. The icons have all been updated, and we now treat dropdowns in a new, cleaner way.

Additionally, we added some intelligence into the headers. When you’re browsing through your notes, we show the date created and updated in the note header area. As soon as you start editing the note, the date fades away and becomes the formatting bar. If you want to edit the date, click on the “i.”

I’ve seen a slew of updates since I first started using Evernote, but I can’t recall seeing one that cleaned up the note panel as nicely as this one has. It’s much more pleasant to work with now.

Here’s hoping Evernote keeps focusing a bit on design and their writing spaces on the Mac and in their iOS apps.